Leading congressional Democrats and some of the party's presidential contenders gathered Sunday for the funeral of Emily Clyburn, wife of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and prolific fundraiser in support of helping students attend the alma mater they shared.
"We all loved her so much," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during funeral services in West Columbia. "She was not only a gentle lady. She was a strategic thinker."
Pelosi and Georgia Congressman John Lewis were among about a dozen House members who attended services at Brookland Baptist Church for Emily Clyburn, who died last week at age 80 after a decades-long battle with diabetes.
Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren greets House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn at the funeral of his wife Emily on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, in West Columbia, S.C. (AP PhotoMeg Kinnard)
Two Democratic presidential contenders, Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, also attended Sunday's service. Former Vice President Joe Biden planned to go to at another service Monday in Charleston, and Pelosi said that other members of Congress also would be on hand.
Married for nearly six decades, the Clyburns met as students at South Carolina State University. Rep. Clyburn has often told the story of how he met his future wife in jail after they were both arrested while protesting against segregation at an Orangeburg drug store counter, a tale recounted Sunday by Emily Clyburn's college roommate.
Hungry, the congressman has said Emily Clyburn walked up to him with a hamburger. As he reached for it, she tore it, keeping half for herself.
"I tell everybody she got me for half a hamburger," Jim Clyburn said.
They married just over a year later.
Emily Clyburn, a native of Moncks Corner, was known affectionately to many as "Ms. Emily." She went on to become a public school librarian in Columbia and Charleston before spending nearly 30 years as a medical librarian at the Charleston Naval Base and Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia.
Through the years, the couple raised millions of dollars for the endowment and need-based scholarships at their alma mater, from which Emily Clyburn received an honorary doctorate in 2010. A pedestrian bridge in Orangeburg linking S.C. State to student housing over a five-lane road bears her name.
"Ms. Emily will never be duplicated," Columbia City Councilman Sam Davis said. "But she will be a model for humanitarians to come."
Rep. Clyburn, 79, has often remarked on his wife's steady influence on his political decision-making through the years, including the notion he once entertained of leaving Congress after Republicans took back the U.S. House following the 2010 elections due to a frustration at failing to get things accomplished.
Emily Clyburn talked him out of it — in part by joking she didn't need him around the house all the time playing golf, but also telling him he had way too much left to accomplish.
"As always, she was right," Clyburn said in 2015.
One by one, friends and colleagues offered their support to the Clyburn family, with many calling on Rep. Clyburn to turn to his faith in his time of loss.
"We pray for Congressman Clyburn," said Rosalyn Glenn, a financial planner and former Democratic nominee for state treasurer, during an opening prayer. "Just like you gave her to him then, because you knew what he needed then, we're going to thank you that you give him what he needs now."
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
